From the Home Place

September 20, 2025

The harsh reality is that death comes knocking for all of us and we have to say “farewell” to family, friends and earthly possessions. Yet how we answer the death call seems to be quite different. Some are ready, even looking forward to the call, while others tend to think of it in a fairy-tale manner. By that I mean for the Christ-follower, death is like graduation day. As believers we step out of the only realm we have ever known, into the presence of All Mighty God! For the unbeliever, death is a passing from bad to worse. It has been well stated: “For a follower of Jesus, this earth is the only Hell they will ever know; for the unbeliever, this earth is the only Heaven they shall ever know.”

It seems to me that there are three major factors that will determine the attitude of our funeral. 1) How we love people. 2) How we respond to life circumstances. 3) How we respond to God.

1. How we love people: People tend to give us back that which we have given them. We reap what we sow. If we spend our life trying to get along with others, they will remember our kindness. As the Apostle Paul stated, “In as much as it is possible with you, be at peace with all people.” Kindness begets kindness – Proverb 15:1, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
2. How we respond to circumstances: I have found that if a person tends to see the difficult circumstances of life as opportunities rather than obstacles it makes life even more rewarding. Every trial makes us either bitter or better, the choice is ours, but that choice usually impacts the lives of others, and they tend to not forget that impact.
3. How we respond to God: You see loved ones, when a Christ-follower passes on, their life is easily celebrated. The Bible teaches us though a Christian is no longer with us, they are in the presence of God in the glory of heaven, and that brings great peace to those left behind.

Let’s build upon number three a bit more: The painful truth is that not all folks are ready to make the journey called death. So many live as if they will never die and stand before God. Some even die thinking Hell to be a constant party, not so! Years ago, when a family entered a local eating establishment the question wasn’t so much “What are we going to eat?” Upon entering a local the restaurant, the first question one had to answer was, “Smoking or Non?”

God is asking each of us to answer the same question, “Smoking or Non?” Will we decide to follow Jesus and be allowed to spend eternity in the non-smoking section, or will we live a life controlled by sin and self-pleasure and spend eternity in the smoking section? We all get to choose.

The problem, just like at the restaurant, you have to decide which section to sit in before you are seated. Stated another way, you have to decide where you want to spend eternity before you die. At the moment of death, the decision has already been made. You see friends, there are no do-overs once we take our last breath. At death, how we lived, and who we lived for have sealed our eternal state. We all live for self or Savior, which are you living for? Your decision is absolutely an eternal decision which determines “Smoking or Non,” and that same decision usually determines how folks will remember you.

Choosing a non-smoking eternity with you, Neal